Diary of an Arcade Employee

Batman Green Machine

In the late 70s, Green Machines were all the rage. Different from a Big Wheel, the Green Machine used two levers to pivot the back wheels. Shortly after Green Machines hit the scene (the late 1970s), Sears released their own version of the Green Machine: a Batman themed one. As a kid, I was lucky enough to own one of those Batman-themed Green Machines. As an adult, I am lucky enough to still have pictures of it.

Despite the blur, you can see that the Green Machine’s black and green color scheme has been swapped out here for Batman’s blue and yellow. The Batman version also came with a sweet flag that trailed behind you, warning the citizens of Gotham City (or more likely, adults in cars) that you were zooming down the road.

That’s me again on the Bat-machine, getting bopped in the face with an inflatable bopper by my neighbor, Scott. I’m pretty sure that’s my parents’ Vega station wagon we’re standing in front of which, in a race, stood no chance against the pedal-powered Bat-machine.

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10 thoughts on “Batman Green Machine”

Like you, I was a kid of the 1970’s and boy did we have some cool toys. I never had a green machine, but I had friends who did. Pretty awesome. I did have a Big Wheel and one of my favorite things to do was go super fast, then pull the break and skid out. Good times.

I vaguely remember green machines. I didn’t have one, but I wanted one (and I think some neighbor kid had one at one point, but I was so young at the time that I don’t really remember).
Those clothes sure bring back memories though, striped t-shirts, fleece trimmed coats, and blue sneakers.

Oh boy! I was thinking of calling the Toy Detectives for a special case, but this gave me a clue. I remembered a ride on toy with two “big wheels” with handles on the side and you could turn them together to go forward or back, or turn them opposite to spin (and get dizzy). When I was that the green machine was made by Marx, it jogged my mind that my special ride said Marx on it as well. A few googles later and I found it, the Krazy Kar:

One of my favorite Christmas memories was putting together a standard green Green Machine for my little brother Mike while watching Wrestling (WWWF) after midnight on channel 9 in New York. The fact that I was putting one together gave me a pleasant alternative to actually owning one, which was out of the question because I was well beyond them.

I rode that thing until the plastic wheels wore out, which was a common death for all the plastic Big Wheel style bikes/trikes/whatevers. Something about being only a few inches from the ground made it feel like you were going faster than you’d ever gone in a car… at least to a six year old.

I desperately wanted a BIG WHEEL or a GREEN MACHINE but I was just too big for them. My mother said I was “Husky”. I didn’t fit on them so I never got one. I did manage to take the seat off of a neighbors BIG WHEEL and awkwardly use it as a scooter. Not the same….sob….not the same.

OMFG, Flack, I have had the memory of a Batman themed Green Machine in my head for years but there is NO info about it on the net. I began to think it didn’t exist. Marx doesn’t even claim it. It must have been a third party company “knock off”.

Hmm, now I see that Empire Toys made them and they also made a Superman Machine.

I had one of the Bat Machines too. Used to race it up and down our block. I was even lucky enough to be able to ride it in our neighborhood 4th of July parade! Some of my friends had the Green Machine, but I was the only one with the Bat Machine!! Thanks for the pics, brought back some great memories! :)